What?

Why?

Who?

A portable video game arcade. A pop up virtual kingdom. A suite of local multi-player arcade machines built from cardboard. A travelling exhibition on video games; as art and as play. A Virtual Reality station. A party. An installation. An educational resource encouraging people of all ages to view gaming as a creative medium.

Because we believe playing together brings people together. Because gaming is one of the most accessible, prominent and adopted art forms in the world today. Because we want to create a space where simple to play games for all ages and abilities get people laughing and talking no matter your background or culture.

Started by performer / producer Michael Bell as a companion installation alongside his comedy/circus show Game it has now become a major project in itself. You can get a more detailed history here. Alongside Mike there is a crew of improvisers, comedians, artists and tech lords involved.

What?

A portable video game arcade. A pop up virtual kingdom. A suite of local multi-player arcade machines built from cardboard. A travelling exhibition on video games; as art and as play. A Virtual Reality station. A party. An installation. An educational resource encouraging people of all ages to view gaming as a creative medium.

Why?

Because we believe playing together brings people together. Because gaming is one of the most accessible, prominent and adopted art forms in the world today. Because we want to create a space where simple to play games for all ages and abilities get people laughing and talking no matter your background or culture.

Who?

Started by performer / producer Michael Bell as a companion installation alongside his comedy/circus show Game it has now become a major project in itself. Alongside Mike there is a crew of improvisers, comedians, artists and tech lords involved.

The Story So Far

We started with the project in the summer of ’15. We got a chance to run it for a week at a festival called BeFest during which we tested out placing an arcade machine in Birmingham public library. After that we took it to Jackson’s Lane in London for a night and in October we set it up for 5 days at Bristol Old Vic. Since then we’ve run it at Now Play festival at Somerset House, the Eden Project during their half term events, the V&A Museum and at a few smaller events around the UK.

“The Cardboard Arcade is the perfect interactive installation. The games draw people together, from different ages, backgrounds and nationalities. As shown in their feedback, audiences reacted very positively to the games, in particular young people who had an opportunity to play in a cultural environment. We couldn’t recommend it more.”Isla Aguilar & Miguel Oyarzun, BeFest Directors.

Back to the Future (our plans)

We have a lot of ideas and plans for this project and are currently attempting to raise the funds from various sources to do so. In 2018 you’ll start to see us put on our own events in cities around the South West of England. Family friendly in the day and licensed parties at night in as random a location as we can find (know any please get in touch). We’re also creating our own arcade festival tent and building an exhibition on gaming aimed at parents to help them guide their kids in this wonderful artform/hobby! Keep in contact by following us on social media where we post where we will be and what we are doing.